DUBOIS – The City of DuBois and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have entered into an agreement over future inevitable fines.

City Public Works Superintendent Scott Farrell reported at Monday night’s council meeting that the city’s permit for wastewater treatment expires in November. 

The new wastewater plant won’t be up and running until potentially the fall of 2025, he said, adding it’s an issue as the current wastewater treatment plant can’t meet the standards of the new permit and would lead to continuous fines until the new plant is online.

Farrell said City/Township Manager Shawn Arbaugh has been negotiating with DEP and negotiated the fines down. 

According to information provided to the media, the city will agree to pay $9,200 under the assumption that the new plant will be operational by December 2025.

Check Presentation

On behalf of TurnAbout Boxing, Invictus, DuBoisLIVE and the DuBois Days Committee, they presented a check totaling $11,456.40 to the city Monday night.

It was noted that these funds were remaining proceeds from the 2024 DuBois Days festival that was held this past June at the city park. The group sought for these funds to be invested in the park.

The committee thanked the city and its staff for their support, adding they look forward to hosting another event in 2025. They hope it will include support and participation from both the DuBois City and Sandy Township fire departments.

E-Bikes

The city will explore its options following some complaints about careless e-bike riders on city walkways.  For now, e-bikes will be treated as manual bicycles.

City Mayor Pat Reasinger and Police Chief Shawn McCleary urged e-bike users to be more mindful on walkways, as well as to follow regular bicycle rules such as yielding to pedestrians.

Reasinger did indicate he wants to avoid an e-bike ban, if possible, as it’s much safer for kids to ride on walkways among pedestrian traffic than on roadways next to vehicles.